Through The Never
by Ashika
Summary: Raven falls into a coma and must find her way through her mind - a place that even she has never wanted to fully explore. The question is: does she even want to find her way out beyond the obligatory protestations of death?


**Through The Never**

**Author: Ashika**

**Summary: Raven falls into a coma and must find her way through her mind - a place that even she has never wanted to fully explore. The question is: does she even want to find her way out beyond the obligatory protestations of death?**

**Disclaimers: I do not own any part of Teen Titans. Nor do I actually even own the title of this fic. It is the title of a song by Metallica. It seemed to fit, though.**

**

* * *

**

In the dark, see past our eyes  
Pursuit of truth no matter where it lies  
All that is, ever  
Ever was  
Will be ever  
Twisting, turning  
Through the never

Through the Never by Metallica

* * *

**Prologue

* * *

**

_Raven's perpetually black mood didn't make a dent in the Tamaranian's glowing smile. Not even her blackest glare was making the girl move. Raven finally sighed. "Why are you so happy?"_

_"It is a glorious day! How could one not be happy?"_

_Raven glanced out the window. "Well, it is raining. I guess that does make it a nicer day."_

_Starfire merely continued to smile and floated to mechanical doors. "I'm going to make my planet's traditional Pudding of Cloudy Sorrow! Perhaps one of you would like to join me in the feast?"_

_Beast Boy and Cyborg paused their gaming in horror before strangling out, "No thanks, I'm good."_

_"Raven?"_

_"Uhm...no."_

_The doors opened and closed with the slight whisper of sound they always made as the boys went back to their game. Raven closed her eyes._

Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...

Black...darkness...calm...

Emotions...fade...away...

Azarath...Metrion...Zinthos...

_The alarm sounded and of course it would be just as she was sinking into her meditation. Her dark eyes blinked open as Robin dashed in. "Titans, let's move! Plasmus is out of jail!"_

_The GameStation was abandoned as they each rushed out the door to their respective vehicles or flying forms. Raven paused, a sense of darkness ahead, and shrugged it off. Darkness was always welcome._

_

* * *

_

_They flew along the city streets, not even needing radar of any sort. The screams and loud crashes were enough. The scene they arrived upon was filled with dark brown sludge and screaming civilians._

_"People, keep back! Titans, GO!" Robin, always in control and in command led the attack - jumping to almost inhuman heights and throwing a combination of Freeze discs and Electro discs. They each exploded on impact, spewing sludge around the sidewalks before Plasmus reformed himself._

_The blue flash of Cyborg's sonic cannon hit Plasmus directly through the head, followed by two neon green starbolts directed at his chest._

_"Azarath, metrion, ZINTHOS!" Raven wrapped her dark energy around his waist and _pulled_. Plasmus fell apart, but as always, quickly came back together. _

_Plasmus launched at Cyborg, forcing the android to reach for the sidewalk where Plasmus wouldn't land. He dove into a roll and pressed up on the balls of his feet shooting another beam at Plasmus. It went wide, blasting a chunk of cement out of the nearby building._

_"Aww man..."_

_Plasmus was quickly distracted by the tiny human acrobat, swinging at him with a bo-staff. The staff connected, swinging more of the slime away from Plasmus, before Robin touched down briefly on him and flipped away. _

_At that moment Beast Boy came charging in as a large green rhino, snorting and pounding the ground with tremendous force. His large green tusk ripped into the muddy brown body of Plasmus, flinging sludge to the street. Raven flung more dark magic at him, slowly drifting closer as she watched Starfire out of the corner of her eye._

_Starfire charged the starbolts in her hands and eyes, planning to release them as soon as Raven finished her attack. Raven's all consuming blackness engulfed parts of the large brown blob. The starbolts flew into Plasmus, knocking him onto his back._

_But in a moment of precise timing, his pincer flung out in reflex, catching Raven off-guard as she watched him fall from a point too close. She watched as the pincer drew closer, too late and too fast for her to move aside as he hit her full force against the already damaged buildings._

_She plunged easily into the darkness that she always welcomed._

**

* * *

Part One

* * *

**

Raven's perpetually black mood didn't make a dent in the Tamaranian's glowing smile. Not even her blackest glare was making the girl move. Raven finally sighed. "Why are you so happy?"

"It is a glorious day! How could one not be happy?"

Raven glanced out the window. "Well, it is raining. I guess that does make it a better day."

Starfire merely continued to smile and floated to mechanical doors. "I'm going to make my planet's traditional Pudding of Cloudy Sorrow! Perhaps one of you would like to join me in my small feast?"

"...didn't we already go through this before?" As if they were magical words, everything froze - Starfire with her unnaturally bright smile; Cyborg and Beast Boy side-by-side with arms and legs akimbo as they played their video game. And though everything was only frozen, the room seemed darker. More sinister.

Raven raised an eyebrow and looked around furtively. "What's...going on?"

A young man who looked about her age stepped out of the shadows. He was tall, Raven probably only came up to his shoulders. He grinned at her, his dark eyes grinning too. He stood above her, her legs still in lotus position. "This is a memory. One of your more recent ones, actually."

"Who are you?"

The young man smiled slightly, baring sparkly white teeth. "I am," bowing here with a flourish, "Damon. Pleased to meet you."

Raven frowned. "If this is a memory, why are you in it? _What_ is going on?"

"I'm ah...here to help you." He smiled apologetically. "There isn't much more to it than that."

Her frown seemed to get deeper. "And what do I need help with?"

Damon smiled fully. "Lots with the questions! My goodness..."

She glared.

He held up his hands in mock surrender. "Okay, okay. I got it. No questioning the Raven-girl. I understand completely." His smile turned wry. "You aren't ready for me to ask questions yet. I should have known."

"Just answer my question."

"Well...you are currently in a coma. I'm here to lead you out."

"_What?_" If anything around her had been tangible, there would have been a few pieces of pottery mysteriously in pieces.

Damon looked confused. He brought a hand through short black hair. "I thought you had good hearing. I said -"

"_Yes, _I heard what you said. What do you mean I'm in a coma?"

The befuddled look persisted. "Well, from what I know...your body is in a state of unconsciousness..."

"Er..."

Raven ground her teeth together as she practically snarled, "_Why_ am I in a coma?"

His brow cleared. "_Oh!_ You got hit into a building by Plasmus. Hit your head. And here you are."

Raven stood and walked to the sliding metal doors. "Is this how we get out?"

"Sort of."

"Let's go." She walked through the door.

Damon sighed and dashed after her. "It doesn't _work_ like that, Raven."

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

_Beep...beep...beep...beep..._

The medical bay was silent but for the steady breathing of the two occupants and constant beeping of the monitors. The boy with green skin sat on the edge of his lightly padded chair, his hands pressing against the side of the hospital bed. His eyes roved desperately over the coma-stricken girl.

"Raven, wake up. _Please_ wake up..."

Silence.

"Everyone is waiting. Robin hasn't slept since this happened. Cy is going nuts, building and working on everything in sight." He paused, trying to think of something funny. "But more important, you gotta come back 'cause Star is killing us with her puddings and traditional meals! I think I've only gotten out of most of them 'cause I'm a vegan."

Silence.

"We brought you to the hospital, but they couldn't do anything for you. They said that they could keep you there, but everyone thought it would be better if you just came here."

Silence.

Beast Boy settled back into his chair, his fingers twitching to hold her hand. He settled for morphing into a cat and curling up on her sheet-covered stomach.

_Beep...beep...beep...beep..._

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

The light before her eyes flashed and she was in her room in Titan Tower. She glanced around; she tried to make sure everything was in its usual place. She heard a chuckle behind her and she whirled around. What was quickly becoming a trademark grin was already in place on his face.

"And so it begins." His voice was dramatically sinister in such a way that no one would believe it to be evil, let alone the girl of darkness and sinister...ness...herself.

"And what begins? You need to be more specific."

The grin grew wider. "The journey. We are going to go through the deep recesses of your mind and when you finally understand...you'll wake up!"

Raven's own trademark frown twitched her lips downward. "When I understand _what_?

"That, I couldn't say."

"Couldn't or wouldn't?"

"Couldn't. I have no idea what your revelation is supposed to be. I'm merely here to guide."

Raven closed her eyes in frustration, sighed, and walked to the doors of her room - fully expecting them to open as usual. She stopped just short of slamming her face into the heavy metal doors. She turned and if looks could kill...Damon would be memory.

"Why can't I leave?"

"Because you haven't learned anything yet."

"What do I need to learn from _here_?"

"I don't know. You're just going to have to search your room until you figure it out."

"How am I supposed to know?"

Damon smiled briefly. "At the risk of sounding cliché, you'll just _know_."

"You sound cliché."

"Thanks, I do try."

Raven looked at him with disgust and began her search for _it_ - whatever _it_ was - while Damon sat on her bed, looking amused. "You could help me."

"You could ask."

"Help me."

"I repeat: _ask._ Also, nicely wouldn't hurt either."

Her death glare clearly having no effect on his physical movement, nor his amusement, she frowned and continued her search.

It was fruitless, searching through her large collection of books, under her bed, and in her closet. She came to her wooden vanity table, whereupon nothing stood. Raven's lids narrowed...there was something...missing...

_Wake...please...puddinggg...Rrrrooobbiin...nnnuuutttttttssssssss..._

Purple hair flew around as Raven tried to distinguish where the words came from. "Beast Boy? Beast Boy!" There was no answer, and the harder she listened the further away the voice sounded. Finally there was no voice at all. Raven clenched her teeth and spoke in her calmest tone. It wobbled slightly, but she didn't care anymore. "_What was that?_" Her breath came in heavy gasps, and she suddenly wondered why she needed to breath at all.

Damon did not move, his arms crossed over his chest and eyebrow raised as if he was waiting for her. He made no move to answer her questions and all amusement had fled his face at the first sound of Beast Boy's voice. Raven stalked up to him, her anger threatening to consume her. She stopped and closed her eyes.

_Azarath...metrion...zinthos..._

When she opened her eyes, he stood in the same position, his face slightly mocking. "Did it help?"

Raven took a deep breath, "It helped. You know more than you are telling. What just happened?"

The tall young man's expression went bitter for an instant before he grinned, and she wondered if she had seen what she had seen. And now that she thought about it, she couldn't see an aura around him either.

"Your friend was speaking to you."

Her eyes widened slightly. "What was he saying?"

"I don't know. You probably heard more than me. He's _your_ friend."

"Why couldn't I understand him?"

Damon's voice was patient, explaining to a child who knew the answer but didn't want to think of it herself. "You weren't listening."

"Yes, I was."

"You thought you were."

"The harder I tried to listen, the further away his words got. There wasn't anything to listen to."

"You said it."

Raven's eye twitched. "What?"

Her powers charged, she could feel them growing inside her. Which was a little strange, considering she was inside herself already. But she didn't think of that then. "_Answer me._"

Damon smiled infuriatingly. "You _know_ the answer. You're a smart girl. Figure it out yourself."

Her dark power surged around him, squeezing around his middle and hovering with him in midair. He didn't bat an eye. She growled, "_Answer me._"

"No."

They squeezed harder and Damon cried out in pain. He was choking to death, but he could somehow still speak. "Raven, you have never depended on anyone in your life. Why are you depending on me to answer this for you?" He dropped to the ground and he coughed - choking for the air that wasn't really air.

Raven collapsed on her bed, her elbows on her knees. Her head fell into her hands. "What am I doing? What is going on?"

Damon pulled himself up, standing over her as he had done in the beginning. His hand rested on her shoulder. "You know that I know the answer, but I can't give it to you. You have to learn for yourself. But don't worry about it for now. It's important, but a little advanced for you right now."

Her head snapped up, eyes flashing with anger. "_What_ is a little advanced? I want to understand!"

Damon sighed. "I know, but I'm only a guide. I can show you the doors. But you do the rest."

_Azarath...metrion...zinthos..._

"Then where is the door from this room?"

"In this room. Or rather..._not_ in this room."

Damon flashed a grin. "Well, get searching! I gave you your hint, now get to it!"

She closed her eyes, visualizing her room as she had left it this morning. _Masks on a pedestal...books on shelf...one book on bed, no wait, I put that away. Mirror...mirror...MIRROR! _"Got it."

"Oh?"

"My mirror isn't there. It's missing."

Damon smiled and his brows rose. "And what do you think that _means_?"

"My...mind. It's a portal into my mind. And I'm already here?"

The doors leading from her room slid open. "Very good."

"But I already knew that!"

"Did you?"

She stepped through the doors and the light flashed bright in her eyes.

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

A cold metal _thing_ was shaking him. He stood and _hissed_ at the whatever dared touch his precious fur.

"Whoa, B, calm down. It's me, Cyborg." The sleep cleared from Beast Boy's eyes and, sure enough, Cyborg stood before him - hands held up in the universal signal of surrender. He re-morphed into human before realizing, _oh my god!_,he was sitting on Raven's prone body.

"Ahh!" He quickly scrambled off the bed, tripping over a metal bar and smashing to the floor. He put a gloved hand to his dazed head. "Hey, Cy, what's up?"

Cyborg sat laughing in his chair. "Priceless! That was priceless!"

"Aww, dude. Shut up!" Beast Boy wanted to tell him shut up because Raven was sleeping, but truth be told - he wanted her awake. "What're you here for anyway?"

"I'm takin' my shift. You need to get some sleep in _human_ form. So march your little green butt back to your room and sleep."

"I sleep the same as cat or human."

"Robin's orders, man."

Beast Boy grumbled, stalking to the doors. "You better take good care of her."

He could only hear Cyborg guffawing - actually _guffawing_ - as he marched back to his room.

_**

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Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

Raven moaned in the aftermath of the furiously bright lights. "Is someone trying to blind me?"

She heard him before she saw him. "Not really, it _is_ your own mind. Though, if we wanted to we could probably come up with some fancy metaphor and symbolism for it."

"I'd rather not."

Damon smiled briefly. "I thought so."

A quick glance around the room and she saw a...kitchen. To be specific: the Titan Tower kitchen. The room, usually quite bright with artificial lighting was rather dim. The reflection of light off the floor tiles did little to brighten to resonance of the room.

"And what am I supposed to learn from this place?"

Damon, looking around the room himself, glanced at her. He shrugged. "I don't know."

She scowled, wishing she was anywhere but here.

_Sleep...betttterr...gooooddd...cccaaarreeee...her._

Raven spun around much like she had the last time. Beast Boy again? "Beast Boy?"

But he was gone.

She dragged out a chair, slumping into it. "Damon, _tell_ me what's going on. Why can't I really hear him?"

Damon heaved a sigh. "I _can't_. It's not that I don't want to. I just can't."

"Why not?"

He took a deep breath and grabbed a chair for himself. "What would be the point of this if I just told you the answer? You would hear me, but you wouldn't understand me. Just by asking, you're telling me that you _do not _under_stand_."

"There is a point to this?"

"Yes."

She didn't reply and silence reigned for several minutes. She stood and looked around the room, wondering what little item would get her out of _this_ room. The cupboards were bare of any food, dishware, or cookware. The oven yielded nothing, and the refrigerator held - for the first time in years - just as much food as the cupboards. There was nothing here.

_whimper..._

Black eyes glared at the man sitting in a wooden chair. He raised an eyebrow, but otherwise said nothing.

_whimper..._

She ran visual daggers through his head and he stared steadily back.

_whimper...whimper..._

She had reached her limit. "Stop that!"

The pearly whites made their appearance and he ran a hand through his hair. "I'm not doing anything. You keep death glaring me and all I'm doin' is sitting here."

_whimper..._

This time she was looking straight at him and there was no way that the sound was coming from him. His throat hadn't budged. She looked around the darkened room. "Who's there?"

"M-m-m-m-me. I-i-i'm here."

A dark corner and there Raven sat. Well, Timid Raven anyway.

Raven strode over. "What are you doing here? What's going on?"

Timid looked up long enough to let out a short _eep!_ before huddling back into her robe. Her voice was barely a whisper. "i don't know..."

Raven sighed. "Ok...do you know where the others are?"

"we are all here. somewhere. i'm scared. HE is waiting."

Raven's gaze sharpened. "He? Father?"

"i don't know..."

Raven's eyes fluttered closed. _Azarath...metrion...zinthos..._

"Let's go then." The doors had slid open. She marched to the door, hoping that she would be out of her mind soon.

The blindingly white light flashed and she was...in her own room once more.

_**

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Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

Beast Boy was in the medical room again. He sat slumped against the cloth-backed chair. He ran his fingers through his hair over and over, obviously hoping that Raven would wake up soon. All-in-all, Starfire thought he looked terrible.

"Beast Boy, why do you sigh so desperately?"

The young green man looked at her with bloodshot eyes. "Because I care about her. I want her to get better."

Starfire nodded. "Of course. But you should rest. Raven would not want you to look so when she wakes up, I think."

"You think so?"

"I'm sure of it."

"Ok."

He trudged to the doors and he whispered, "It's been a week. Please wake up..."

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

Her room wasn't any different. In fact, she wondered why she had to come here again at all. Hadn't she figured the puzzle out the last time? Perhaps another sector of her personality was hiding in here? She hadn't seen one last time, but then she hadn't seen Timid at first either.

"Stop wondering." Damon was grinning - what was he? A Cheshire cat? - and he took a seat on her bed. "You don't actually have to do anything in here but rest."

"Rest?"

"You've been working for a week without rest. If you don't settle down for a bit, your brain will burn out and then you'll be nowhere."

Raven frowned. "I need to get out of here. I don't need rest."

Damon rolled his eyes. "No, you _do_ need rest. What happens to your body in here happens is actually happening to you. Granted, if you were to fall and scrape your knee, it wouldn't show up on the outside of your physical body, but the internal bleeding where the scratch happened _would_ show up. You need to at least relax."

"No I don't."

"Don't you at least want to read a book? Take the chance to meditate?"

"No."

"Well, ok. But you won't be leaving this room until you're rested."

Purple eyes clamped shut. She chanted her eternal "Azarath...metrion...zinthos. Azarath...metrion...zinthos..."

_Azarath...metrion...zinthos..._

_Emotions...fading...away..._

_Darkness...is...welcome..._

_Azarath...metrion...zinthos..._

Darkness came swiftly and smoothly. Almost as if it were waiting for her. It would have been frightening if she had found the darkness so readily available in anything other than meditation. As it was...unsettled was a light way of putting it.

She traveled through her mind, the black never ending. At one point, she found Timid sitting on the ground with her knees pulled up to her chest. "I-i-i-i'm glad t-t-to be b-b-back."

She moved on, but there was nothing to see. Only the regularly unattainable stillness.

When she pulled out, Damon was staring at her, his eyes black and unblinking. "Did you find what you were looking for?"

"I..." She looked away and rummaged through her book collection. Her gaze fell upon a small well-taped box, and she shuddered. The image of a large black dragon danced across her vision and she turned back to searching for a good book. She settled with The Chronicles of a Tralbadian Shiek and sat on her purple comforters, stretching out to a comfortable position. Two chapters later and she was out like a light.

* * *

_"If we had been fighting for real, you would be beeswax by now!"_

_"But you didn't know it wasn't for real."_

_"You don't know anything."_

_"I know you about your little crush on Jinx back in the Academy."_

_A gasp._

_"Maaaaan, how can you eat that crap? Tofu ain't even real food."_

_"Well I don't know how you can eat dead, chopped up, animal. It's gross!"_

_"Hey, at least it has...substance! Eatin' tofu is like eating barf."_

_"Eating meat _is_ eating barf!"_

_"Is not!"_

_"Is too!"_

_"Is not!"_

_"Is too."_

_Laughter._

_"I didn't think you would come...humans scare easily."_

_"I'm only half human!"_

_"Half of nothing is still nothing."_

_THAT'S NOT TRUE!_

_

* * *

_

Raven shot straight up and quickly felt the burgeoning headache. She pulled a pale hand to her aching head. "What was that?"

Damon gave her a pitying gaze. "It was Cyborg."

Her eyes shot to his. "_What?_"

Damon paused as if contemplating whether to give her the answer before replying, "You subconsciously used your powers to sort of...burrow into Cyborg's mind. I guess it's supposed to give you a little bit of insight to how he ticks. Not everyone is forced through such lengths to hide emotions as you, but sometimes they do anyway. In any case, he doesn't know you were in there."

He smiled. "Well at least you're rested. You ready?"

Raven pursed her lips and scowled. Sure enough, the doors were open, and she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to keep going. Damon didn't look as if he was budging without her, though he was giving a pointed look towards the door, and she walked as gracefully as possible to the open doors.

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

Cyborg watched over the pale, pale girl with worry shining in his one human eye. He scanned her continuously with his non-human eye, hoping for some vital sign that he had missed that would bring her back. But he did it each time knowing that his eye had not lied. She was in a coma and she was the only one getting herself out.

She grew thinner by the day, her cheeks and ribs more prominent now than ever. They could pump the much needed vitamins and minerals into her body, but they could hardly cram food down her throat. Not to say that Cyborg hadn't thought about it in a moment of hilarity.

He didn't really want to be here; he'd rather be working on his baby, or his own mechanical body. But he knew the moment he neglected to be here and some other Titan wasn't here, Beast Boy would be down here in a flash. And Beast Boy dearly needed the rest.

It had been a month since Raven had fallen into her coma. Since then Beast Boy had been ever vigilant in his, well...vigil. He only left to sleep, eat, and occasionally fight a baddie. It was met with major relief that no large enemies had popped up. Raven was a vital character to their team, and to lose her would be a crutch no one was sure they could handle.

The others seemed to be handling it fairly well; Starfire and Robin had grown much closer since Raven had fallen. Himself, well he wasn't really interested in any one girl at the moment. But Beast Boy...he looked as if he ought to be in the coma himself.

"Man, Raven...you better wake up soon. B's gonna kill himself if he don't get some rest or something soon. I swear, his skin's getting greener by the day."

The steady beep of the machines was his only answer.

"You know, I always did respect and like you. You're pretty creepy but sometimes...you're ok. You just gotta let yourself see that. I guess, that...I dunno. You always hide your feelings, mostly 'cause you _have_ to. But we...I don't think it's 'cause..."

He trailed off, not speaking for a full minute. He listened to the rhythmic lulling of the machines.

"We care about you. And we just want you to be happy. Well, as happy as you'll let yourself be." He cracked a grin. "If you could hear me, I know what you'd say." His voice went high and mock-girly. "I don't _do_ happy."

He chuckled to himself and the machines continued their monotonous song.

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

_I don't do happy._

The voice boomed before she had a chance to concentrate and then it was gone. She was still focusing from the latest bout of ridiculously bright lights and so she concentrated on the voice. It had sounded like Cyborg. Well, sort of. It actually had sounded like Cyborg when he was pretending to be a girl. In fact, those were words that she herself used often.

Why was Cyborg imitating her, if it was him? And where did Beast Boy's voice fit into all of this?

"You're beginning to figure it out." Damon sounded pleased, as if what she learned actually mattered to him. In fact...

"Why _are_ you helping me?"

He raised a well-angled brow. "Do you not want me to help?"

"Don't try and change the subject. Answer my question."

His brow stayed lifted. "I don't respond well to demands. I thought I had already made that clear."

Raven blew out a breath. "_Please_ tell me why you are helping me."

His teeth made a brilliant appearance. "Not quite there, but it'll do. I help you because I want to."

"And who are you?"

"Damon."

"But you're more than that."

The corner of his mouth curled. "Yes. But, it's not something you need to discuss with me. At least, not right now." He muttered _sotto_ voice, "And hopefully I'll avoid it forever..."

Raven opened her mouth to protest and Damon quickly jumped in, forestalling anything she had to say. "There are a couple more things you're ready to know now."

She crossed her arms and leaned back on her feet - waiting.

"Number one: you know how you found Timid? And she's now in your mind? Well, your mind within your mind."

He ran a hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Anyway, you need to find them all. The basic ones." He started ticking them off on his fingers. "Timid - who you've found - Happy, Courage, Knowledge, and er...Rage. They got a bit scattered when you fell into the coma."

"If they're in here, why can't _they_ find _me_?"

"Coma Policy?" She glared and he ducked his head, his hand wrapping around his neck. He grinned sheepishly "Sorry, I actually don't know. The mechanics of this whole operation are lost on me. You'd have to ask somebody else. All I know is that you have to find them before you can get out...among other mission objectives."

"And what are those?"

"Can't say. You aren't ready for them."

"But how am I supposed to complete these _mission objectives_ if I don't know what they are?"

"You'll either stumble upon them, as you did with Timid, or you'll learn."

"...so you _lied_ to me? You said you didn't know what was going on."

"Not completely true."

"You also have a time limit. Sort of."

"_What!_"

"Fact of the matter is, you're in a coma. Your body is withering away as we speak. The Teen Titans are rallying for now, but you've been in here for four weeks of their time."

"_Four weeks?_"

"Yeah..."

Raven rolled her violet eyes. "So what now?"

Damon gave a bemused smile. "Search?"

But there was no need. At that moment, a green-clad Raven came up and slammed Damon in the head as hard as she could. He was out for the count. Raven raised an eyebrow, obviously amused. She had found Courage, or rather Courage had found her - but it was all part of her anyway, so she found herself? - and she could continue on.

Except, when she looked to the doors that should have been open, well, they should have been open.

It wasn't quite so amusing anymore. The lion-hearted Raven said it all in one short word. "Shit."

* * *

There was a definite wound at the base of his head. It was slight, but apparently it had been enough. It was strange, though, that there was no blood. The split skin was the only indicator that he had been injured at all. 

"Exactly why did you hit him?"

"I was bored. He looked dangerous. I probably should've at least turned him around and gotten a fair fight out of it."

"Why do you look so surprised? I am who I am. You made me."

* * *

"So, I'm bored. Is there anything we can kick the crap out of?" 

"It's _your_ mind! Conjure something! Take control."

"I can't."

"Who says?"

A glance at the inconveniently unconscious male.

"Oh...but how do we know that he's telling us the truth?"

* * *

"Whatever, I'm outta here. This place is stupid." 

"You're not going anywhere."

"Says who?"

"Me."

"And what gives you the right to tell me what to do?"

"I created you, remember?"

* * *

"Why is it that you can't control yourself charging into the thick of things? If you had actually taken the time to consider the scenario..." 

"That's Knowledge's job. Not mine."

"Well it's true!"

* * *

"I didn't hit him _that_ hard. He should be up by now!" 

"Maybe."

"I'm so bored. All this non-activity is driving me insane!"

"_You_ drive me insane."

* * *

Damon's head was swimming. Red upon red swam across his vision and his eyes weren't even open. 

He groaned, rubbing his hand against his forehead. _What happened?_ Opening his eyes summoned a plethora of purple. And strangely, a large amount of green. He repeated his question out loud.

"I hit you on the head."

It sounded like Raven, and yet held a strength that was usually a bit more...latent.

"Courage hit you." _That_ was Raven.

"Can we go now?"

His head throbbing, he pulled himself to a sitting position. "Ugh...uh, sure. Let's go." He stood, wincing all the while. Of course, after going through the pain of standing they all realized that the doors were not open. Courage, once more, summarized the entire scenario with a frustrated "Shit!" and he collapsed to the ground in an exhausted faint.

_**

* * *

Teen Titans GO!

* * *

**_

"I am not sure I understand how you can be awake and yet asleep for so long. Robin said that you are in a _coma_ and he didn't know how long you would be asleep."

The deeply tanned alien did not speak for some minutes, offering silent companionship to the would-be corpse.

"There is a wound that has scarred. From where you hit the building, it is near your head. Robin says that it was lucky you did not break your neck. I believe it was also of the luck that you had so much blood in you. You almost bled to the death."

There was no response and she had not expected one.

"I have come to say...that I am sorry. I should have realized that he would hit you. I...Robin says I could not have known, but I am sure I could have. I know that this is the truth."

The pale bedridden girl continued to breathe, a steady rise and fall.

"I would wait to apologize until you are awake, but I do not know when you will awaken. I will say the apologies again when you waken."

Rise...fall...rise...fall...

"May X'Hal be with you. We Titans are always by your side, my friend."

**

* * *

End Part One

* * *

**

**AN: Questions? Comments? Flames? Please review. There will be one more part, but when I get to it...I have started it. :) And the book Raven was reading: Chronicals of a Tralbadian Sheik? I had the book from spellbound in mind, but I mostly wanted to say that Tralbadian is a melding of Trabia and Galbadia from FFVIII.  
**


End file.
